OECD Governments have failed to investigate the alleged role of multinational companies in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said the Oxford-based Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), in a new report released today. In October 2002, an Expert Panel set up by the U.N. Security Council accused 85 companies of violating the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises – a voluntary company code that has an obligatory government monitoring mechanism. To date there has been almost no progress in investigating these companies.

"The furore created by the Panel’s reports makes the need to draw a clear line between acceptable and unacceptable corporate behaviour a top priority - not just in the tragic case of the DRC but in all conflict zones,” said Patricia Feeney.

But in October 2003 the Panel’s final report failed to make this distinction clearly. It listed many company cases in a ‘resolved’ category without publicly explaining its reasoning for doing so. Only eleven cases were forwarded on to governments for investigation under the Guidelines, but so far almost no action has been taken. Many unanswered questions remain about the allegations against companies. It’s been five months since the UN Panel of Experts completed its work. Over the past four years no fewer than five resolutions or statements have been passed by the UN Security Council urging governments to conduct their own investigations into the part played by companies in illegal resource exploitation, which helped fuel the conflict.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is emerging from a devastating five-year war that is estimated to have cost the lives of more than three million people. Multinational corporations have been accused of helping to perpetuate the war and of profiteering from it. In February 2002, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, promised to clamp down on companies that fuel resource wars in Africa and called for stricter adherence to the OECD Guidelines as a means of ensuring that companies behave responsibly in conflict zones.

The report by Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) examines the role of companies in the DRC conflict, their reactions to being listed by the UN Panel and the publicly unanswered questions that remain about their conduct. For the first time it frames the questions in relation to the OECD Guidelines. Governments adhering to the Guidelines have a responsibility to ensure that they are applied. It is in nobody’s interest — neither that of responsible companies, nor that of the people of the DRC — to leave these questions unresolved. This report should act as a catalyst for action by governments.

An electronic version of RAID’s full report is to be submitted to the UN Security Council, OECD Governments, the OECD’s Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises (CIME) and the International Criminal Court.